Different Destinies
by ZZXCV
Summary: When a very different Harry Potter returns to the Wizarding World, he must complete in a tournament he didn't enter, avoid a manipulative headmaster and fight off attacks from Voldemort and his supporters. Oh yeah, and fall in love.


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**Different Destinies**

by

ZZXCV

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**Prologue**

**'Altered Destiny'**

**(Malfoy Manor, Halloween 1981)**

Lord Voldemort sat in his throne, extremely pleased with himself. Tonight was the night he would become truly immortal by destroying the child the prophecy had named as his equal, how wrong it was.

His followers had finally tracked down Peter Pettigrew, the traitorous rat who had managed to insert himself as the Potter's Secret Keeper, but fleeing before he Voldemort could get the knowledge from the feeble man's mind.

"My lord," spoke Lucius Malfoy as he entered the Throne Room, the Carrows wrestling a wildly flailing Peter Pettigrew between them, "We have returned with the traitor."

"Wormtail, so good to see you," drawled Voldemort as he climbed out of his throne and stopped in front of Peter, who had been dumped on the floor, his wrists bound with special shackles to negate his Animagus abilities.

"Fuck off, Snakeface!" spat Peter, desperately trying to clamber to his feet.

"I see you've finally grown that Gryffindor spine," spoke Voldemort, "How disgusting."

"That's why you'll never win!" retorted Peter, spitting in the Dark Lord's face.

Voldemort seethed, resisting the urge to kill Peter on the spot, "Now you're going to tell me where the Potters are hiding."

"Never! I would rather die than betray friends!" yelled Peter, drawing a spare wand he stashed in a holster around his thigh, at Lily's suggestion. Instead of pointing the wand at Voldemort or his supporters, Peter turned it to his forehead.

"_OBLIVIATE_!" shouted Peter, a bolt of green light striking him and causing him to crumple to the ground, the wand rolling out of his limp hand.

"NO!" roared Voldemort, grabbing the unconscious man and pressing his own wand to Peter's temple, "_Legimens_!"

Delving deep inside Peter's mind, Voldemort tore through it with no regard for the pain he was inflicting, he would normally spare some time to savour it. However, he needed to find the location of the Potters before the charm finished erasing Peter's memory.

"It is done," spoke Voldemort, retreating from Peter's head with the Potter's location, "But do not dispose of him, I will make him suffer for his betrayal before I grant him death."

"Yes, my Lord!" bowed Lucius as Voldemort flicked his wrist, his battle robes appearing around his snake-like body.

"Good, but first see that you make a distraction," ordered Voldemort, "Take the Lestranges and Crouch Jr. with you and attack the Longbottoms, I shall handle the Potters."

Without another word, Voldemort swished his cloak and disappeared, leaving Lucius to initiate the distraction.

**-X-X-X-X-**

**(Dumbledore's Office, Two Days Later)**

"You can't do this Albus!" yelled Sirius Black at the ageing headmaster.

"It's for Harry's own good, the greater good," insisted Albus Dumbledore, holding the sleeping child in his arms.

"He is my godson, I am his guardian now!" retorted Sirius, as Remus placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Until a time at which James and Lily's will can be read that cannot be determined," replied Albus, "Harry must go to his Aunt and Uncle's."

"They hate magic!" spat Sirius, "They'd probably try and beat it out of him."

"Now Sirius, calm down," spoke Albus, "I will take Harry to his remaining family now, you will be able to apply to the Wizengamot for custody."

With that, Albus apparated with Harry, leaving Sirius and Remus alone in the office. Swearing loudly, Sirius shot a Blasting Curse at Dumbledore's desk, creating a small hole.

"That bastard!" yelled Sirius as the portraits squawked in protest.

"There's nothing we can do now," spoke Remus calmly, "But we should begin with the arrangements for James and Lily's funeral."

"And find Peter, or whatever those bastards have left of him!" spat Sirius as the office door opened and Minerva McGonagoll entered.

"L-Longbottom Manor," stuttered Minerva, "It's been burnt to the ground!"

"By whom?" asked Remus, shocked.

"Death Eaters!" hissed Sirius.

"Yes, Lucius Malfoy, the Lestranges and Barty Crouch's son," replied Minerva, "Augusta was babysitting Neville for Frank and Alice when they attacked."

"They're dead?" questioned Remus.

"Augusta was burned to death, but Crouch Jr. and the younger Lestrange brother were as well," answered Minerva, "Malfoy and the remaining Lestranges were captured, Neville survived, even inside the flames, untouched."

"They're proclaiming him the 'Boy-Who-Lived' in feasts right now," informed Dumbledore as he returned, Harry no longer with him, "They have noticed Voldemort's disappearance and presume the young Longbottom child was the one who vanquished the Dark Lord."

"But he not gone," spoke Remus, "And Harry was the one to do it."

"Yes, Harry is the child of prophecy," replied Albus, "But we must allow them to continue in their belief, Harry must be allowed a regular childhood."

"No he won't," spat Sirius, "He's coming to live with me, I promised Lily and James I would be Harry's father if anything happened to them and I'm not one to break promises."

Albus blanched, "Sirius, please-"

"No," interrupted Remus, "You can't ignore James and Lily's wishes, and we won't let you."

"You'll be hearing from us soon," grunted Sirius as he and Remus turned and exited the office.

**-X-X-X-X-**

**(No. 4 Privet Drive, Three Years Later)**

Harry Potter huddled under his covers, tears soaking the thin material. His stunted body was covered in bruises and cuts, he was certain at least one of his fingers was broken.

So many times he had wished some long-lost relative would show up and save him from this torture. The sound of a car door slamming attracted his attention, he was certain the Dursleys were home and he hadn't heard the front door open.

Outside the house, Sirius and Remus clambered out of the former's car. Striding to the front door, Sirius rapped his knuckles on it, a court order allowing him custody of his godson clenched in his other hand.

"Who the hell are you?" spat Vernon Dursley as he opened the door.

"Ask your horse of a wife," retorted Sirius, pushing past the large man, making sure to step on every one of his toes, Remus 'accidentally' elbowing him in the chest as he stepped past.

"You two!" hissed Petunia as she entered the hallway, a frying pan gripped tightly in her hand, her whale of a son behind her legs.

"I would say it's lovely to see you again, Petunia," spoke Remus, "But then again I'd be lying."

"Now, where's Harry?" questioned Sirius in a dark voice.

"The freak's not here!" roared Vernon, worried he might lose his punching bag, "You won't find him!"

"Tell me where he is!" yelled Sirius as both he and Remus drew their wands.

A heavy silence fell over the hallway, allowing a quiet sniffling coming from the understairs cupboard to be heard. Reigning in his temper, Sirius unlocked the door with a flick of his wand and opened it. Inside, Harry shied away from the light, terrified Uncle Vernon would resume his beating.

"It's okay, Harry," spoke Sirius soothingly, "It's me, Padfoot, I'm sorry couldn't come and get you earlier but I'm here now and I'm going to make sure you never to see this disgusting people anymore."

A flash of recognition passed through Harry's eyes and he launched himself at Sirius, wrapping his arms around the man's neck, "Uncle Padfoot!"

"We're here now," whispered Sirius, "I promise I'll never let you down again."

"We going now?" asked Remus as Sirius lifted Harry out the cupboard.

"Uncle Mooney!" squealed Harry happily.

"Yes, you will hurt my godson no more!" replied Sirius, directing the second part at the Dursleys.

The two men strode over to the open door, Harry still in Sirius's arms. Pausing, Sirius turned and raised his wand at the Dursleys.

"I should kill you for what you've done," spoke Sirius, causing the family to flinch, "But I'm going to give you a second chance you don't deserve, _modificant_!"

The three Dursleys suddenly went stiff, Sirius delving into their minds, changing their personalities to something more desirable and erasing all knowledge Harry had ever lived with them.

With that, Sirius and Remus shut the door and walked to the car. Strapping Harry into the back seat, Sirius smiled at the sight of the now sleeping child. Climbing into the driver's seat, Sirius glanced at Remus in the passenger side who had a rare smile which matched his own.

"Everything's going to be different now, isn't it?" spoke Sirius, starting the engine.

"Yes, it is," replied Remus, "For the better."

**-X-X-X-X-**

**(12 Grimmauld Place)**

Poppy Pomfrey carefully manoeuvred herself down the stairs of the old house, trying her hardest to avoid looking at the severed elf heads on the wall. At the bottom of the stair, Poppy made her way to the kitchen where Sirius and Remus were nervously waiting.

"How is he?" asked Sirius the second Poppy set foot in the room.

"He's stable, for now," answered Poppy, taking the opposite seat to Sirius, Remus sat on her left-hand side.

"Is he going to be okay?" inquired Remus, lines of worry creasing his face.

"Yes, in time," replied Poppy, "He has extensive physical injuries, both current and past. He has at least five bones which were broken but not set, his eyesight is a little poor, but those glasses he was using were very ill-suited to him, if he had continued to use them his eyesight would have continued to worsen, I have modified them to his need."

"But the big problem is his magical core, it's nearly completely exhausted," continued Poppy, surprised the two Marauders had restrained themselves from interrupting with the questions they no doubt had, "It's been bound to nearly to only of quarter capacity and used to power a blood ward of sorts, I'm quite surprised Harry's didn't die because of it."

"You can repair the damage, right?" asked Sirius, "To his body and core I mean."

"Yes, but it's going to be long and difficult," answered Poppy, "I'll have to visit every day to heal his bones and other injuries, Harry is also very malnourished, so he will need potions for that. As for his core that will need a mixture of potions and spells, I can't release his core all at the same time, it could kill him, the binding of his core will stunt his core's growth if left as it is."

Sirius sighed, "How could I let this happen?"

"You couldn't stop it, I couldn't," spoke Remus, "Just be glad it's over now."

"Yeah," grunted Sirius, "Anyway, how long is that going to take? We want to get Harry out the country as soon as possible, there's a Black family property in Southern France we're going to live in."

"It should be finished in time for the end of the summer holidays," answered Poppy, "But I'll give you some more potions to administer after that."

"Thanks, Poppy," spoke Remus grimly as the Hogwarts Nurse stood to leave.

"Yeah, send my regards to Minnie," added Sirius, smiling slightly.

"See you tomorrow," replied Poppy, disapperating with a small 'pop'.

"That goat-shagging bastard!" seethed Sirius, carefully not to raise his voice too much and wake Harry.

"I know," muttered Remus, "All the more reason we have to get out the country, Dumbledore thinks of Harry as nothing more than a weapon, he got everyone worshipping Neville Longbottom while he put Harry through torture."

"I will make him pay," spat Sirius, "Albus Dumbledore's days are numbered."

**-X-X-X-X-**


End file.
